Fastening device for car-doors



(No Model.)

M. Z. SIMS. FASTENING DEVICE FOR GAB DOORS.

N0. 451,702. Patented May 5,1891.

W W %A i L 1 Z i UNITED STATES MILTON Z.

PATENT OFFICE.

SIMS, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

FASTENING DEVICE FOR CAR-DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,702, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed September 17, 1890. Serial No. 365,250. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MILTON Z. SIMS, of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Fastening Devices for Freight-Car Doors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and effective device for securing cardoors in a closed position and for locking the same by the use of a lead and wire seal or other sealing device, and to provide a device which is not only capable of holding the door in its closed position, but also of opening the door or starting its opening movement when the device is moved from its door-securing position.

To these ends the invention consists in the improved device, which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side view of a portion of a freight-car and its sliding door, the door being shown as held in its closed position by my improved fastening device. Fig. 2 representsasimilar view showing the door partially opened by a movement of the fastening device away from its operative position. Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

The same letters and n nmerals of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents a portion of freight-car door, and b a portion of the stop against which the forward edge of the door closes.

0 represents an ear formed on a shank c, which is attached by countersunk bolts (1 (Z to the door, said ear projecting outwardly from the door and co-operating with the fastening device 6, next described. Said fastening device comprises a handle or lever 4: and a cam or cam-shaped head 5, formed on one end of said lever and adapted to be pivotally connected by a bolt 6 with the door-stop b, said lever being arranged to swing in a plane which is parallel with the plane in which the door slides.

One edge of the lever a is a eontinuai ion of the perimeter of the cam 5, The other edge of the lever is separated from the perimeter of the cam by a narrow recess '7, which is formed to receive the ear 0, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 The inner side of the lever 4tviz., the side which constitutes one edge of the recess 7 is provided with an outwardlywojecting ear or staple g, which has a suitable opening for the reception of the wire or other seal, the ear 0 having a corresponding opening, so that when the ear 0 is in the recess '7 the wire shackle can be passed through both'the ear 0 and the ear or staple g and thus lock the two parts together.

The cam and lover are so formed and their arrangement relatively to the ear is such that when the door is closed and the lever is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 from the position shown in said figure to that shown in Fig. 1, the recess 7 will receive the ear 0, thus permitting the locking of the door by a wire shackle or other sealing device, in a manner which will readily be understood.

The bolts (1 (Z, that secure the shank c of the ear 0 to the door, and the bolt 0, that secures the cam and lever to the door-stop, are secured by countersunk nuts within the car, so .that they cannot be removed from the exterior. It is obvious, therefore, that when the ears 0 and g are connected by a shackle, as

above described, the door cannot be opened without breaking the seal, it being impossible either to remove the cam and lever or the ear 0 from the exterior of the car.

Then the lever at is moved from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2, the perimeter of the cam 5 and the continuation thereof along the outer edge of the lever at, bearing against the ear 0, exerts a backward pressure on said ear which tends to partially open the door, as shown in Fig. 2. Hence by the operation of swinging back the lever to unfasten the door the opening move ment of the door is commenced, so that the necessity of marring the door by prying it partly open with a bar is avoided.

I prefer to offset the cam and lever from the outer side of the stop (Z to compensate for the thickness of the shank c, which is attached to the door, it being desirable to apply said shank to the outer face of the door instead of mortising it into the door. To this end I interpose a washer 2' between the head or cam 5 and the outer side of the stop 7), as shown in Fig. 3, the thickness of said washer being sufiicient to suitably offset the cam and lever, so that the inner side of the lever will be just outside of the outer face of the shank c. The washer i is preferably provided with a tubular boss 1', which projects through the bolt-hole in the cam or head 5 and receives the bolt 6, said bolt-hole being suitably enlarged for the reception of said may be shownadvisable by experience withoutdepart-ing from the spirit of my invention.

It is of course essential that the lever have a recess arranged to receive the ear on the door when the latter is shut,'and a cam so arranged relatively to the recess that when the lever is moved away from its door-securing position it will bear on the ear and push the door partly open.

I claim- 1. A sliding'door locking and opening device consisting of a lever adapted to be pivotally-connected to a fixed part of the car, so as to swing in a plane parallel with that in which the door moves, and provided with a recess adapted to receive a projection on the cardoor and thereby secure the door when the lever is in one position, and with a cam formed to bear on said projection and cooperate therewith in opening the door when the lever is moved from its door-securing position.

2. The combination, with a sliding doorand its stop, of a movable fastening member comprising a head adapted to be pivotally connected to the stop, and a lever formed on said head and provided with a shackle-receiving ear or staple, one side of said lever forming with a portion of the head a recess beside said ear, and another shackle-receiving ear having a shank attached to the door and formed to enter the said recess, said movable member havinga cam-surface adapted to cooperate with said ear in starting the opening movement of the door, as set forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification,in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of September, A. D. 1890.

MILTON Z. SIMS.

Witnesses:

E. W. Yarns, D. BROWN. 

